A 3D film format flap?

Technicolor unveils new solution at 3D Summit

At Wednesday’s 3D Entertainment Summit, Technicolor officially unveiled its Production to Projection 3D solution, offering it as a way to bring high-quality 3D to more moviegoers.

Technicolor called the system, a low-cost method of projecting 3D from 35mm prints, a solution to bridge the gap until digital cinema can be rolled out.

Yet at the summit itself, Technicolor’s initiative met a surprisingly skeptical reception, even as panelists spoke repeatedly of the need for more 3D cinema screens. The issue wasn’t the quality of the Technicolor product, which is generally considered good, but a widespread feeling that the industry had settled on the digital platform and doesn’t have the energy to get into a format war.

Even the exhibitors panel was tepid, though one suggested Technicolor’s product might catch on in other countries, when American exhibs sell their abandoned film projectors abroad.

Exhibitors have long balked at the cost of digital cinema systems and would be expected to be prime supporters of lower-cost alternatives.